Theft of intellectual property is a very prominent topic in the entertainment industries. Technologies to copy audio and video recordings have plagued the industry for many years. The advent of digital recordings has, in the eyes of the entertainment industries, exacerbated the problem. In the past, analog copies got progressively worse such that eventually any copies made from the previous copy were worthless. Digital copies, each of which is just as pristine and precise as the previous copy, remove the previous limitation on repetitive copying.
While the creation of illegal copies is troublesome to the entertainment industry, equally troubling is the theft of authorized copies of the works from retail outlets, jukeboxes, and the like. Shoplifting and similar theft account for extensive lost revenue for the entertainment industry. Optical discs, such as CDs and DVDs, because of their relatively small size, are easy targets for such theft and account for a substantial portion of those losses.
Still other security concerns surround optical discs. Where the disc contains sensitive information, the loss and subsequent accessing of a disc may create problems for the person or entity whose information may be on the disc. Such information could be financial information, personal information, or confidential government information.
Thus, there remains a need for a device or technique that helps ensure that optical discs may not be read unless used in an authorized disc reader or cannot be used until after their use has been authorized.